


My Moon

by StevetheIcecube



Series: LeoNiles Week [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, Full Moon, LeoNiles Week 2018, Love Confessions, M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 21:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15782328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: Leo and Niles together, on a quiet summer's night.





	My Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Second fic for the week, this time with the prompt Stargazing! Check out @leonilesweek on Tumblr if you want to take part :)

"I love the moon," Niles said, gazing skywards. "It's so bright. And it's a constant. It's been there during the darkest times and it stays there during the brightest."

"You're quite a poet, you know," Leo said, kicking his legs over the edge of the battlement. It was dangerous, sure, but who cared? Life was dangerous. Courting an ex thief was dangerous. He could kick his legs over a gaping hole if he wanted to.

"I have talents when I try," Niles said, but Leo could hear the genuine smile in his voice without even looking. Niles lit up when he received a genuine compliment, and Leo lived to see Niles light up. 

"I always preferred the stars," Leo commented after a few minutes of them sitting in comfortable silence. The sky, a deep black, was lit with the light of the unusually prominent moon (Leo had definitely picked this day to suggest stargazing by consulting lunar and star charts) and countless stars. Everywhere he looked, there was another cluster.

"Why's that?" Niles asked.

"Well the moon's a hunk of rock, pretty as it is," he said. "It's very close and personal. Only our planet has this moon, we think. But stars? They seem to go on forever. We have no idea what they are, or what they do, or anything. But they're either incredibly tiny and bright or very, very far away and huger than we can understand. And I think that's beautiful."

"You know way too much about stars," Niles said with a soft chuckle. "Get back to having your head in a book, or Iago will realise you don't have a one track mind."

Leo grinned and, sparing a glance around him to check they were shielded from view, leaned into Niles' side. "The sky and the stars is sort of like life, too," he said. "There are so many awful things. That's the darkness. But to pierce every darkness are endless pinpricks of light."

"And you said I was poetic," Niles said. "Well, I have one better. There's darkness in the world, lots of it, and there are tiny bits of light, like when Felicia isn't doing the cooking, or Lady Elise's smile when things go her way. But then there's the moon. Bright, constant, and personal. The moon is you."

Leo found himself unable to speak, shocked into silence by the eloquence of Niles' words and the sheer sentiment behind them. "My moon is the way the sun catches your eye when you throw back your head and laugh," he said.

"My moon is the look in your eyes when you realise something you think is genius."

"My moon is your endless patience as I try to hammer out a cohesive sentence on something I've just read."

"My moon is the sheer determination you have in trying to make everyone understand your words when you've been up for two days without sleep just to finish a book."

"My moon is when you help me to bed, knowing that if I attempt the stairs by myself I'd probably pass out before I got back to my room."

"My moon is your sleepy, mumbled thanks when you manage to get into bed."

"You're amazing, Niles," he said, loathe to break the pattern in their words, but knowing there was something else he needed to say. "Your job is just to protect me in battle and against possible assailants but you do so much more than that."

"Mostly because no one's interested in assassinating someone who they see as just buried in a book their whole life," Niles said with a chuckle. "But I'm happy to do it. You're a delight to be around."

"I love you, Niles," he said. The words caught in his throat slightly, hesitant and nervous, and as they hung for a moment in the warm night air, Leo felt a shiver run down his spine. Had he made a mistake? Had he been too forward?

"Wondered when you'd get round to that," Niles said, a small grin gracing his face. "I love you too. It's not easy to say, by any stretch of the imagination, but...it's the truth. More than the moon, even."

"It's more real than the moon or you love me more than the moon?" He asked, unable to stop himself from grinning like an absolute idiot.

"The moon is definitely real, unless you're withholding some rather important information," Niles said. "So I'd say the latter." Together, they sat, Niles' right arm slung over Leo's shoulder, watching the moon and the stars, and it was wonderful. Leo never wanted it to end.


End file.
